Page 225 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

110 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

The Greek Temple
The ancient Greeks influenced later Western builders with
their post-and-lintel building tradition. Their three types
of orders— systems of columns supporting entablatures
—were distinguished by proportion and decoration.
Stone blocks of limestone and marble were held in place
by metal clamps and dowels, and the sloping wooden
roof rafters were covered by terra-cotta tiles.The apex of
Greek architecture, the Parthenon temple (448 BCE–32
A pyramid at Chichén Itzá in Mexico,
BCE), by Iktinos and Kallikrates, was the focal point of
an example of ancient Mesoamerican
Athens’s raised sacred precinct, called the acropolis.
monumental architecture.
Designed to be appreciated as a three-dimensional vol-
ume, the Parthenon featured a stepped platform and an
using bearing-wall construction. The Ziggurat of Ur- exterior row of columns (or colonnade) that sheltered a
Nammu (c. 2100 BCE) in Ur, Iraq, was faced in a more central room housing a gigantic statue of Athena. The
durable kiln-dried brick laid in a bitumen mortar. In Cen- temple’s proportions, determined by harmonious numer-
tral America the stepped pyramids of the grand city of ical ratios, were given life by the slight curvature of lines
Teotihuacán (c. 250 BCE–650 CE), near present-day Mex- (called entasis), so components appeared to resist the
ico City, were faced with volcanic stone and stucco and weight imposed on them from above. Surfaces were stuc-
probably painted bright colors. They formed the back- coed, painted, and embellished with colorful sculpture
drop for the rituals and public events associated with the admired for its naturalism and gracefulness.
temples that took place on the top platforms.
Of the monumental tombs, the most famous are the Roman Innovations
three Great Pyramids of Giza (c. 2551 BCE–2490 BCE) in and Their Progeny
Egypt, which exhibited ashlar masonry (carefully cut Ancient Roman buildings, complexes, and new towns
stone blocks), piled in tight rows and faced in polished were regimented by simple geometric spaces related
limestone. Workers probably used wooden rollers and along clear axes and were often constructed using new
sleds on earthen ramps to elevate the heavy stone blocks, materials and technologies. Voluminous interiors were
and levers to place them in their final locations. These created by using the semicircular arch, a method of span-
tombs memorialized god-kings for eternity and were ning space with many small wedge-shaped elements that
seen as ladders for royal spirits to reach the heavens. In balanced against one another. Three-dimensional extru-
Greece beehive-shaped tombs survive, such as the Trea- sions of the arch formed tunnels, rings, domes, and
sury of Atreus (or Tomb of Agamemnon, c. 1300 BCE– other types of spaces.The Romans employed concrete—
1250 BCE) at Mycenae, where the subterranean main cir- a mixture of cement, water, and aggregate that can take
cular chamber was capped by a vault of corbelled stone. on many flowing shapes—and faced it in stone or
A third type of monument served rulers during their coursed brick and tile. The best-known examples of
lives. The enormous Assyrian Palace of King Sargon II Roman architecture, the Pantheon temple (118 CE–25
(c. 720 BCE–705 BCE) at Dur Sharrukin, modern Khors- CE) and the Colosseum amphitheater (c. 70 CE–80 CE),
abad, Iraq, represented his combined secular and sacred both in Rome, had interiors that were spatially exciting,
authority and intimidated his foes with the carved imag- their concrete surfaces lavishly finished with multicolored
inary beasts and scenes of military prowess that deco- marbles, gilding, and sculpted detailing.
rated its mud-brick walls. During the waning years of the Roman empire in